At Their Mercy

Chapter 19: Dream's requiem

A/N: https://www.deviantart.com/vcl2006/art/God-of-Order-Errata-916066909

UUUUUMM. VCL IS REALLY TRYING TO KILL ME WITH THEIR AWESOME ART. I CRIED JUST AS MUCH AS THE FIRST TIME.

Also, thank you to everyone who comments and reaches out to me. I absolutely adore reading and responding to people, it brings me so much excitement when I see a new comment in my inbox.

Enjoy

"This entire bonding thing is very strange."

Erratum was trying to follow what was distressing the deadly demigod before them with Dream's assistance. The positive spirit gave Reaper a sympathetic smile as he tried to soothe him. "It's all right! I'm sure we can figure something else out!" He assured him before looking to Erratum hopefully.

"I'm going to need more to go off of if you expect me to help." Erratum frowned at the look they received. "Oh! Well, the next part of courting is a display thing of sorts? It's... hard to explain, kind of old-fashioned." Dream attempted to explain. "Basically, it's about accentuating some of your most prominent features, usually using a colour scheme that symbolizes your partner." Erratum couldn't help but correlate this to a more animalistic mating display but said nothing of it. "Reaper chose to put the focus on his wings since they're very prominent already and Geno seems to like his feathers. But..."

"Anything to add colour to them involves sticky pastes or paints." Reaper sulked as he leaned against Dream in a pout. "Makes my feathers clump and not to mention it's extremely uncomfortable." He sighed in distress. Erratum found the entire thing a little silly but didn't dare make that known. It was obvious this was important to Reaper and, thus, it was important to Erratum. The god puzzled on this a bit and considered what they could possibly do to help. "Does it have to be liquid?"

Reaper seemed a bit thrown by the question. "I mean, no? I can't really think of anything else though..." Erratum nodded a bit before Verse appeared before them. "I don't toss out any offerings I receive even if I have no use for them. They were meant to be gifts and it would be insulting to do so." They explained to the confused demigod. After a few moments of tapping around, a box appeared in front of the Guardian. "I never question what others find valuable enough to offer, as everything has its own meaning to a person. Shells, rocks, and other little items like that I keep in this box. With proper grinding and refining, we should be able to make enough powder to coat over your feathers without causing them to stick together as paint would." Erratum explained as they withdrew a few deep red rocks and pink shells. Reaper perked up immediately at this and quickly moved to sift through the box as well.

"This is perfect, I didn't even think of that!" Reaper grinned up at the Guardian as they collected a variety of rocks and shells. "You really are the best, you know? I know this might be insignificant in comparison to other issues..." Erratum waved this off immediately. "It isn't insignificant to you, so it isn't to me either." Reaper snorted a bit at this. "Yeah, that's about what I expected you to say."

Dream gave a fond smile at the interaction, relieved that the other had found a solution. As Erratum rejoined him, letting Reaper have his time to dig through the box, he began to turn something over in his mind. "Hey, Errata,"

"Dream," The Guardian addressed.

"You said that Nightmare has been... weird, right?" Dream checked a moment without meeting their eyes. "Weird is a word for it I suppose. The drastic change in behaviour and morals is certainly bemusing to me. One moment he is ruthless and willing to cut anyone's throat for his ambition, the next he's sparing people and swallowing his pride to ask for assistance." They responded with a furrowed browbone. Dream nodded a bit at their words, twisting their hands together in a nervous habit. "Next time we come across him and his group... can I ask you to just... trust me? I want to try something and... well, just let me take the lead for the moment. If things turn south, you can intervene at any point." He requested quietly as if expecting the other to blow up over it.